Ready or Not, Here I Come!

I have a confession to make. I love infomercials. LOVE them. They draw me in, they feed me their sales pitch and people, let me tell you…I. am. hooked. I have been convinced of my need for countless items included but not limited to:

• The Little Giant – one ladder, 24 uses – need I say more?


• The Handy Switch -- no more getting out of bed to turn off the lamp, AND I can turn the lights on in my house from my CAR? Sign me up!

• The Snugli -- yes, I said it – I am always cold and blankets are so complicated -- and they get in the way! I could sit here and type my blog and be just as warm and cozy as you please without worrying about that silly blanket always falling off my shoulders! (I would draw the line at wearing this to a football game though ;)

• And most recently the Bumpit -- If you haven’t seen this fantastic little device, well let me tell you, you are missing out. Ladies, the Bumpit can take your hair from flat to fabulous in a matter of SECONDS! No more teasing your hair to get that “sexy” style – and BONUS you get the “Hollywood” Bumpit, which will actually make you LOOK LIKE A MOVIE STAR. I mean…is there a downside here?

Really, you think I’m being sarcastic. I’m not. Those hokey lines that make my husband double up with laughter have me reaching for my phone and my credit card. Thanks to my incredible sense of frugality and amazing will-power (well, ok let’s be honest – thanks mostly to Dave) I have only ever purchased one item from an infomercial. If I were single though, I’m ashamed to say there would be many more. SO many more.

I have a special weakness though, for infomercials of the exercise variety. I mean, you really can’t argue with those before and after pictures. Anything that can take a mother of 4 from a size fourteen and flabby to a size five and FABulous…well, that’s something to consider.

Not only that, but it is pretty evident that MOST of these great workouts will also make your skin more tan, your teeth more white, and your back more straight. Those poor people in the before shots…all slumped over and depressed…

Given all of that, it’s no surprise that my one infomercial purchase was a fantastic workout DVD called Slim in 6. Now trust me – I also seriously considered Turbo Jam, Hip Hop Abs, and Power 90…but Slim in 6 won out…mostly because it didn’t involve any complicated dance moves that I know, no matter how many times I rewind I would never be able to master :)

In my defense, I purchased Slim in 6 from E-Bay for a seriously discounted price (although that was more because of the prodding of my husband than any actual common sense on my part). I bought this little workout a couple of years ago and I did it very faithfully for about 3 weeks. And I have to say…it IS a great workout…but it is NOT as easy as they make it look :)

Well, get ready everybody, cuz I’m blowing the dust off the cover of this bad boy and kicking it into high gear! The reason? (Apart from the fact that I just had a baby and would like to actually be able to walk up and down the stairs without pulling a muscle)? Well, I wrote in a previous post about a little competition that Dave and I are having, and I am ready to get in the game (to read more about our competition click here). Ready or not Dave, here I come – for intimidation purposes, I might just make you watch that infomercial…once you see it YOU WILL BE AFRAID ;)

And just because I always need a little bit more humility in my life, here are my absolutely hideous “before” shots. I’m really hoping my “after” photos will make up for this little bit of self deprecation – but I’ll let you all be the judge of that when the time comes ;) WISH ME LUCK!!

It took me 9 months, one week, and 14 hours of labor to get me looking THIS GOOD.